Ellen Barahal Taylor, Ph.D.

Ellen Barahal Taylor is a licensed psychologist who has been an affiliate at the Ann Arbor Center for the Family since 1989. While working primarily with children, adolescents and families, her practice consists of individuals of all ages. Prior to working in private practice, Dr. Taylor was a staff psychologist at Hawthorn Center, a children’s psychiatric hospital, for twelve years. While there, she helped to develop and implement their Early Intervention Service, a therapeutic nursery school program, for emotionally impaired preschoolers.

Dr. Taylor’s clinical interests revolve around the issues and stresses experienced by children and their families particularly as they relate to school, family or developmental concerns. She has long been interested in temperament and temperamentally “difficult” children and parent/child conflicts. Her training as a school psychologist has also informed her awareness of learning disabilities and attentional issues and how they impact the learning process and educational experience for many children. She enjoys teaming with school personnel to promote the most positive and productive educational experience as possible for her clients.

Families in transition represent another strong clinical interest. Dr. Taylor is trained in mediation and collaborative divorce and, for the past ten years, she has worked closely with lawyers and mediators in an effort to support families going through the divorce process. She works with families to mediate divorce related issues and depending on the family’s need, Dr. Taylor may act as a child specialist, helping parents develop an appropriate parenting plan; divorce coach to a parent; or individual therapist to a parent or child. Supporting individuals and families during other life changes, such as becoming parents, moves, the transition to college, job changes, relationship loss and illness or the death of a loved one also constitute a significant portion of her practice.

While originally trained in psychodynamically oriented therapy, Dr. Taylor incorporates ecological, family systems and narrative approaches into her theoretical orientation. She prefers to think about individuals within the context of the unique circumstances of their lives. Through the therapeutic process she hopes to help clients increase their coping skills, use resources adaptively, and recognize and appreciate their personal strengths and challenges.